THE OTHER STEPHEN KING

Stephen King can do much more than just scare you. He is one of our best story-tellers. Hearts In Atlantis (2001), with Sir Anthony Hopkins in his usual top form, is  based on a King story and there’s nary a monster to be found. It’s an excellent coming-of-age film with the merest hint of the supernatural. There are several other fine films based on King’s non-horror work available for viewing.

In Misery (1990) James Caan is a highly successful romance novelist whose car crashes in the middle of nowhere. Kathy Bates (Oscar, Best Actress) comes to his aid, takes him into her home and begins nursing him back to health. She happens to be Caan’s biggest fan, and she also happens to be crazy as a bedbug. Very gradually we are made aware that she isn’t going to just release him back into the world when he recovers.  

Kathy Bates is back, and just as good,  in Dolores Claiborne (1995).  When Bates is accused of murdering her aged employer, daughter Jennifer Jason Leigh comes home to help. Through flashbacks, layers in the story are peeled away and we are nicely surprised not only by the resolution of the murder accusation, but by whatever happened to Bates’ abusive husband.  

Stand By Me (1986) is simply as good a movie about young boys as has ever been made. Four pre-teen boys go on an expedition, chasing a rumor there is a dead body at their destination. Whether there is or not is beside the point; in this film getting there is all the fun. Rob Reiner’s sure-handed direction and an excellent screenplay make these young guys achingly true.  Kiefer Sutherland, River Phoenix,, Richard Dreyfuss and John Cusak ( now in their 50's)  are all good in this true and remarkable film.

In The Green Mile (1999) Tom Hanks is a prison guard and Michael Clarke Duncan is a condemned prisoner who may have a gift for healing. 

Best of all (so far) is The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Tim Robbins (who always seems to pick good parts) is a banker sent to prison for murdering his wife and her lover. Morgan Freeman (another consummate pro) becomes his friend and mentor. Robbins’ creative tax planning  makes him very popular with the warden and some of the guards. There are several endings, so don’t go away before the credits. 

All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. None are suitable for children under 12.

                                                                            PIXAR

                                                                      Part 2

          As promised, here are five more solid gold Pixar movies, personally guaranteed by Mr. Movie. 

The Incredibles (2004) takes super heroes to a whole new level. Each member of their, okay, incredible family has a fantastic talent. Father Bob has superhuman strength and endurance. Mother Helen can shapeshift her body. Daughter Violet can make herself invisible and also can generate force fields. Son Dash has superhuman speed. Baby Jack-Jack can do most anything. Forced into early retirement, they rebound and demonstrate the need for super heroes. 

Cars (2006) is about, of course, talking cars. Laugh out loud funny most of the time. The somewhat complicated plot involves a championship race, deliberate forcings of crashes and other outrageous behavior. But the real hero of his film is the wrecker Mater, hilariously voiced by Owen Wilson. The film premiered at Charlotte Motor Speedway and went on to gross millions. It has spawned several sequels which are not nearly as good. 

Ratatouille (2007) proves that Pixar can make anything charming, in this case, rats! Remy is a wannabe chef who secretly bails out a young trainee’s mistakes. When he is discovered, at first the plan is to kill him. But that all changes when he demonstrates that (1) he can talk and (2) he can really cook up a storm. Strangely, the colony of rats in hiding in their attic home over the restaurant, are not creepy. Patton Oswalt voices Remy. Ian Holm, Brian Dennehy, Janean Garofolo and Brad Garrett are among the many voices chiming in. 

Can a robot be funny? Loveable? The hero of a movie? Why yes and Wall-E (2008) is all of the above. Left nearly alone in a post apocalyptic world, the hero is a robot designed to clean up the mess left by lazy, destructive humanity. He survives by pirating parts off other robots. He finds love (?) or something when he is discovered by Eve (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) and they both find a sinlgle living plant that may save the world. 

I have saved for last what for me is the very best of this bunch: Up (2009). Widower Carl, voiced by Ed Asner, refuses to leave his cliffside home and go to an assisted living facility. Instead, he uses all the helium balloons he has stored from his business and floats his house into the sky. Unknown to him, he has a reluctant stowaway: Russell, a dorky kid in a scout uniform. They are floated to South America where they encounter a strange large flightless bird Russell names Kevin. They also meet a golden retriever (Dug) who wears a magic collar that translates his thoughts into English. And like your dog, he is completely sidetracked by squirrels.  Many adventures follow. The high point is Carl’s recollection of his marriage and early time with his late wife Ellie. If you can watch this part of the film without tearing up, you are made of iron! 

All of these movies are available on DVD and are fine for everybody.

                                                 A GOOD TIME TO BE HAD BY ALL

Pixar is a computer animation company started by George Lucas. The true genius of Pixar is not in the animation, which is excellent, but in the stories. The first five full-length Pixar films are absolutely guaranteed by Mr. Movie to appeal to everyone in your house, regardless of age!

Pixar’s first feature, Toy Story (1995) has already grossed over 325 million dollars. It is, in a way, an old story- toys come to life (see, for example, The Nutcracker). But the film is completely fresh.  Woody the cowboy has been the favorite toy of Andy, but may be replaced by spaceman Buzz Lightyear (“to infinity and beyond!”). And the other toys, which must resume inactivity when a human comes around, are a joy, from the toy soldiers to Mr and Mrs. Potato Head. Woody must be rescued from the horrible Sid next door and his nightmarish hybrid toys.

Most sequels fall flat. But Toy Story 2 (1999) is even better than the first one! In this film, cowboy Woody is mistakenly sold at a yard sale to a fiendish toy dealer. Off to the rescue again are Buzz and company. The trip through the toy store led by Tour Guide Barbie is alone worth the price of admission.

Between those two came A Bug’s Life (1998) in which Flik, a good-hearted ant, tries to save his colony from the evil grasshoppers by hiring tough killer insects. 

Unfortunately (or fortunately, for us) he hires a circus troupe by mistake. Full of delicious sight gags and great one-liners!

Despite its title, Monsters, Inc. (2001) is a delight from start to finish and won’t scare even the scardiest little kid. The Monster Factory is powered by the screams of kids frightened by monsters in their closets. But this ideal world is threatened when a real little girl named Boo inadvertently enters the factory and wreaks havoc all around.  Boo is, well, the definition of cute. 

Last but not least comes Finding Nemo (2003). Nemo is a delightful little orange clown fish with a flipper defect who gets lost with his blue companion, a fish with no short term memory. From sharks who have joined Fisheaters Anonymous to schools of fish who arrange themselves in hilarious patterns, this is a joy all the way through.

In any Pixar film, be sure and watch all the way to the end of the credits, because the outtakes are really great. How can an animated feature have outtakes? Well, because Pixar put them there! 

Disney bought Pixar in 2006 and so far (cross your fingers!) they haven’t ruined it. 

All of the films in this column are now available on DVD and all are suitable for all ages. Mr Movie has another bunch of Pixar winners for next time.

                                                          WHO SAID THAT? 5

Yes, yet another helping of movie quotes. These are the hardest yet. Answers at the bottom. No cheating! If you get number 15 you’re brilliant! 

1- This is really a great city. I don’t care what anyone says!

2- Would you be shocked if I put on something more comfortable?

3- I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ babies!

4- My first wife drove me to drink. I’ll always be grateful to her.

5- Years from now when you talk about this- and you will- be kind.

6- In spite of everything, I still believe that people are good at heart.

7- When I die, in the newspapers they’ll write that the sons of bitches of the world have lost their leader.

8- I like to watch..

9- I’m not bad. I’m just drawn that way.

10--All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.

11- The only question I ever ask any woman is “What time is your husband coming home?”

12- Round up the usual suspects.

13- To infinity...and beyond!

14- Beulah, peel me a grape.

15- 24601.

1- Woody Allen to Diane Keaton in Manhattan (1979)

2- Jean Harlow to Ben Lyon in Hell’s Angels (1930)

3- Butterfly McQueen to Vivian Leigh in Gone With The Wind (1939)

4- W.C. Fields in Never Give A Sucker An Even Break (1941)

5- Deborah Kerr to John Kerr in Tea And Sympathy (1956).

6- Millie Perkins in The Diary Of Anne Frank (1959)

7- Vincent Gardenia in Bang The Drum Slowly (1973)

8- Peter Sellers in Being There (1979)

9- Jessica Rabbit (Kahleen Turner) in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)

10-Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard (1950)

11-Paul Newman to Patricia Neal in Hud (1963)

12-Claude Rains to his police officers in Casablanca (1942)

13-Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) in Toy Story (1995)

14-Mae West to Gertrude Howard in I’m No Angel (1933)

15- Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman)  confessing his prison number in Les Miserables (2012)

15- Brilliant! Mensa candidate

12-14 Cinephile

9-11 Fair